In response to a Request For Proposals last year, two projects were submitted to village officials, and one was accepted. Officials refuse to divulge either one until after the deal is done.
Interesting point. I have not seen the village study how much an increase in population in the village and other factors might affect demand in those lots, although it certainly has yet to come even close to recovering from pre-pandemic days.
I would love to see some numbers on how the sales price and any anticipated property tax revenue compares vs. the annual receipts from the parking lot pre-pandemic... It hasn't fully recovered, but it seems to be on the upswing.
I assume the mayor and Board members would argue that the cost-benefit analysis would have to include what they see as a positive goal, increasing the village's housing stock, even if many villagers do not look at it that way. But yes, it would be interesting to have those figures.
I don’t think that most villagers, like myself, have a problem with small apartment projects, like the 32 unit Katz property. But when the board decides on their own with no public knowledge to green light a 90+ unit, they are clearly going against majority wishes. With their track record, it is not plausible that they have not already agreed to a massive plan for the Finkelstein property.
Great job on this. Above and beyond. This village is acting in a disgraceful and despicable manner. I hope people will remember this and run for a seat! Oust the POS Mayor.
There is a wonderful free legal service called committee on Open Government . Very helpful site in retrieving info on a FOIL request. The lack of transparency with this mayor and board is truly alarming -
Yes, thanks, that is a very good source, and there are others in the state as well. Citizens should really take the initiative in filing FOIL requests and insisting on government transparency.
Most municipalities choose 10% as the required % of affordable units for new projects, yet this administration decided on 20%. One would have to assume that the sale price of the property & the future tax assessment would be effected by the extra 10% affordable units decided on by Pugh.
We can’t know right now how many of these projects condos will be affordable until the funding is in place. They may get state funding that will allow more than 20%, eg the Katz project.
The parking lots looked awfully full yesterday. I hope the village does not come to regret trading a continuous source of income for a one time sale.
Interesting point. I have not seen the village study how much an increase in population in the village and other factors might affect demand in those lots, although it certainly has yet to come even close to recovering from pre-pandemic days.
I would love to see some numbers on how the sales price and any anticipated property tax revenue compares vs. the annual receipts from the parking lot pre-pandemic... It hasn't fully recovered, but it seems to be on the upswing.
I assume the mayor and Board members would argue that the cost-benefit analysis would have to include what they see as a positive goal, increasing the village's housing stock, even if many villagers do not look at it that way. But yes, it would be interesting to have those figures.
I don’t think that most villagers, like myself, have a problem with small apartment projects, like the 32 unit Katz property. But when the board decides on their own with no public knowledge to green light a 90+ unit, they are clearly going against majority wishes. With their track record, it is not plausible that they have not already agreed to a massive plan for the Finkelstein property.
Do you have any more details about that?
Thank you for your comment. We are working on an update about the Finkelstein property and hope to be able to report on that before too much longer.
Great job on this. Above and beyond. This village is acting in a disgraceful and despicable manner. I hope people will remember this and run for a seat! Oust the POS Mayor.
There is a wonderful free legal service called committee on Open Government . Very helpful site in retrieving info on a FOIL request. The lack of transparency with this mayor and board is truly alarming -
Yes, thanks, that is a very good source, and there are others in the state as well. Citizens should really take the initiative in filing FOIL requests and insisting on government transparency.
Most municipalities choose 10% as the required % of affordable units for new projects, yet this administration decided on 20%. One would have to assume that the sale price of the property & the future tax assessment would be effected by the extra 10% affordable units decided on by Pugh.
We can’t know right now how many of these projects condos will be affordable until the funding is in place. They may get state funding that will allow more than 20%, eg the Katz project.
Pugh has claimed on multiple occasions, and in an email directly to me, that future projects will be a mix, not like Katz, his pet project
Well, what he says and what will happen are not necessarily the same thing. So we will just have to see.
Oh, that is most certainly true. I think even Pugh, who I believe hard left, knows that people have limitations on what they will accept.